Blade Runner 2049 Images Spotlight Ryan Gosling & Robin Wright

Robin Wright and Ryan Gosling are at the forefront of this latest slew of images from this year’s Blade Runner 2049. In many ways, the film has more expectations surrounding it from audiences than almost any other film this year does, thanks to its status as the sequel to one of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed films of all time, 1982’s sci-fi noir from Ridley Scott, Blade Runner. Based on a screenplay by Michael Green (American Gods) and Hampton Fancher – who co-wrote the first film – Blade Runner 2049 promises to not only continue the story from the first film but also expand upon the mythology and characters of the Blade Runner world.

At the forefront of all of this too, is Ryan Gosling as Officer K, an LA-based Blade Runner who stumbles upon a secret that could tear apart the already-fragile world he finds himself surrounded by. And in his desperate search for answers and solutions to his problem, K finds himself on a mission to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. What results from that meeting promises to be one of the most visually impressive and high stakes onscreen adventures of the year.

With several months left to go until Blade Runner 2049 is released in theaters around the world, EW has unveiled an entire batch of new images from the highly-anticipated sequel. And in addition to letting the images further shine a light on Gosling’s K, director Denis Villeneuve also took the chance to sing the actor’s praises, saying a lot of the movie’s success will be in debt to Gosling’s lead performance:

“Ryan was my muse. He has the movie on his shoulders. He’s in almost every single frame. To see his smile in the morning — and when Ryan Gosling smiles, the camera melts — and his goodwill and strength just meant the world to me. I owe him a lot. This movie owes him a lot.”

Gosling is no doubt, one of the most talented performers of his respective generation and as such, one of the biggest selling points that Blade Runner 2049 has to offer. But at the same time, he’s just one of the key members in what is one of this year’s best onscreen ensembles, which also includes Jared Leto as Neander Wallace, Ana de Armas as Joi, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Barkhad Abdi, and more. And at the top of that list is Robin Wright as a currently unnamed police leader, whose allegiances in the film have been kept under wraps for the time being.

Wright’s character was only glimpsed briefly in the last theatrical trailer for Blade Runner 2049, and she remains just one of the many wild card presences in the film itself. And to Warner Bros.’ credit, the studio has done a good job at keeping as much about the film as secret as possible, while also keeping up a steady stream of promotional materials for it. That’s an effective approach since it not only keeps up a constant level of interest for Blade Runner 2049, but also gives die-hard fans the least amount of plot and character details to criticize and overanalyze ahead of the film’s release. Still, even if the overall quality of Blade Runner 2049 remains a mystery for the time being, there’s no doubt that it’ll, at the very least, be one of this year’s most gorgeous and visually sumptuous films.